www.communityvoice.ie - All the top news stories from Dublin 15

Council Chamber

Strong words about schools

In reply to a question by Cllr. Coppinger, the Manager revealed that the Commission on School Accommodation had not been directed to assess school needs in Dublin 15, although it had carried out reports in other parts of the country.

This drew a scathing response from Cllr. Coppinger. “It is incredible that no such survey has been carried out in the fastest growing area of the country,” she said. “We should definitely put off any rezoning applications until the Commission comes out here and establishes what kind of provision is needed for primary and secondary schools.”

Cllr. Donnelly then had his own version of a GUBU moment, when he described it as “unbelievable, incredible and shocking” that analysis of this area had not been done. “The Dublin 15 Community Council has done a huge amount of work in this area, but in reality the department should be providing its own figures,” he said.

Cllr. Eithne Loftus hit out at the large amount of misinformation circulating at present about where schools could and could not be located. “We have even heard that Farmleigh is being proposed as a possible site,” she said, before adding that 2009 would be a crisis year for secondary schools. This in turn drew a sharp retort from Cllr. Hamill who said Dublin 15 was currently in this mess because Fine Gael, together with Fianna Fáil had voted against the provision for secondary schools in the 2005 Development Plan.

The Manager stated that if a motion is passed requesting a needs study, this would be communicated to the Minister.

Residents oppose mini-pitch proposals

The Community, Recreation and Amenities Department of the Council was granted permission to develop eight “multi-use games areas” (mini-pitches) in Fingal, three of which were to be located in Dublin 15, the Council was told. The sites chosen for these were Riverwood Estate, Sycamore Estate and Tyrrelstown and submissions had been invited from the public in all three locations.

In the case of Riverwood, the Council had received 55 submissions, most of them negative. Criticisms included the fear of increased anti-social behaviour, increased car parking and upkeep of the facility but there had been a number of constructive criticisms also. The Manager was of the opinion that the more facilities there were, the less anti-social behaviour there would be. Cllr. Mags Murray also stated that recreation facilities seemed to stop when the children became too big for the playgrounds and facilities such as these were needed for teenagers.

A similar situation occurred in Sycamore where 32 overwhelmingly negative submissions were received from local residents concerned about noise, parking and anti-social behaviour.

In Tyrrelstown however, there were only two submissions, one of which was a very detailed report from the residents’ association giving broad support to the Council’s efforts but raising concerns about the provision of extra lighting and car parking which, the Manager said, the Council was unable to provide.

Cllr. Michael O’Donovan said if the two Castleknock estates did not want their mini pitches, he knew of many areas who would gladly accept them, including Mountview, Hazelbury Park and Ongar.

The needs of Tyrrelstown

The recent needs analysis report for Tyrrelstown was discussed in the chamber at the special request of Cllr. Michael O’Donovan.

“The three particular areas of concern in the survey were the lack of crèche facilities, the provision of school sites and the need for a community centre in the area,” he said. “Using the new Fingal schools model, if we can acquire the sites for the schools at a reasonable price, half of the savings could then go towards the provision of a community centre, although,” he added, “as Community Voice pointed out recently, the Department are very slow at coming up with the money.

“This area has a lot of positive things going for it but we have been arguing for this and that for the last five years and we really need to deliver.”

Cllr. Coppinger said that the area had been badly let down by the local authority and by central government. “It was seriously wrong of the Council to have bartered away the open space,” she said. “It should now be a priority for the Council to acquire the now defunct Blanchardstown Golf Centre as, with its partially landscaped gardens, it would make a desirable recreation area.”

Cllr. O’Donovan intimated to the chamber that the landowners appeared to be well-disposed to selling off a site set aside for schools at a relatively knock down price. “We must get moving on this within the next three months,” he concluded.

City Council criticised over horse project

Recent submissions to the council by the Finglas Horse and Pony Project regarding the sharing of land at Scribblestown should be seen as a viable means to solving this issue, said Cllr. Ruth Coppinger. The Project had previously declared its unwillingness to share lands currently let to the South Finglas Horse and Pony Club.

In reply, the Manager stated that as the two groups were largely from within the city area, it was considered by Fingal that the development and operation of any such project would require the support of Dublin City Council (DCC).

Cllr. Margaret Richardson reported that at the recent bi-annual inter-authority meeting, DCC had proved to be totally unsympathetic to the project. “Their attitude seems to be that it costs €800 to buy a horse, so these are not poor people at all. Consequently they have no interest in assuming any responsibility for this.”

There was palpable anger in the Council chamber at this attitude. Cllr. Paul Donnelly called the DCC’s comment “outrageous,” stating that the keeping of horses was one of the most under-resourced activities in the City, yet one that was very important in terms of young people if properly resourced.

Cllr. Peggy Hamill said that as Fingal was providing the land, DCC should at least meet them half way on costs. Cllr. Coppinger added that the groups were not looking for centrally heated stables and the amount of money sought was not huge. “Some people spend €800 on a pushchair,” she said.

On the margins

• During the debate on mini-pitches, Cllr. Ruth Coppinger wondered how widespread the opposition to the facilities was in the Riverwood and Sycamore estates. “We all know how it is possible for a very small minority of people to whip up a bit of a campaign in the community,” she told the Chamber, which raised a few eyebrows around the room.

• In response to a question from Cllr. Murray regarding the proposed access points to the new development on the Castleknock Road, the Manager confirmed that there would be no access through Castleknock Park.

• Cllr. Hamill reported that there had been nothing but praise for the work carried out on the Clonsilla Village strategy and wondered whether the same consultants would be employed in Castleknock. She was informed, to much amusement that the Castleknock study would be carried out in-house.

• The provision of facilities for the Millennium Park, including a walled garden, a themed garden, visitor facilities and sculpture, would be introduced on a phased basis, councillors were told. They would naturally be waiting for the report of the Railway Procurement Agency to see which route – through or round the Park – would be favoured for the provision of Metro West. This decision was due in the next month or so, said the Manager.

• In a letter to the Council, Iarnród Éireann declared that there were no plans to change the name of the Phoenix Park Railway Station, which was causing much bewilderment to tourists. Instead they would liaise with Dublin Tourism to “make it clear that there is no direct access to the Park from the station.”

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